Impact of Earthquake on Tourism Sector in Nepal

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Impact of Earthquake on Tourism Sector in Nepal IMPACT OF EARTHQUAKE ON TOURISM SECTOR IN NEPAL Shiba Prasad Rijal* ABSTRACT This paper aims at highlighting the impacts of catastrophic Gorkha earthquake of April 25, 2015 on tourism sector of Nepal and is based on secondary data collected through literature narratives from published and unpublished sources. The 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck a large part of central Nepal and heavily affected the tourism business and livelihoods based on tourism. The overall economic loss due to the earthquake was equivalent to US$ 7 billion, and the disaster effect on tourism sector was estimated at 81241 million, 11.5 percent of total. Of the total amount, 76 percent represents the value of destroyed physical assets, and 24 percent reflects the losses and higher costs of production of goods and services arising from the disaster. The impact of earthquake was clearly observed on tourist arrival. The inbound tourist arrival was below pre-earthquake levels even after nine months of the earthquake, and fell to a six-year low in 2015. The impact of earthquake on economy and livelihoods was enormous. The overall economy was almost paralyzed for a long time. The recovery and the development of tourism business are closely tied with the reinstating of important tourism infrastructure and facilities. Key Words: cultural heritage, earthquake, economy, gross domestic products, tourism infrastructure, livelihoods, tourism business. INTRODUCTION Tourism comprises the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes (WTO, 1999 cited in Gautam, 2011). It is one of the largest industries of Nepal in terms of employment, sources of foreign exchange and revenue and has remained an integral part of Nepalese economy since many years. Natural disaster with catastrophic consequences can have serious effects on tourism for obvious reasons as it destroys the natural environment and the things which the industry relies on. The catastrophic earthquake (7.6 * Dr. Rijal is Reader in Geography Education at Central Department of Education Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal. 184 IMPACT OF EARTHQUAKE ON TOURISM... magnitude) of April 25, 2015 and subsequent numerous aftershocks (four aftershocks were greater than magnitude 6.0, including one measuring 6.8 of May 12, 2015) have severely struck the central parts of Nepal. The earthquake heavily impacted the tourism business and livelihoods based on tourism in Nepal. The impact of earthquake in tourism business is clearly observed throughout the world. Tourism sector in the Canterbury region of New Zealand was heavily impacted due to earthquake of 2010 as 70 percent of operators reported a decline in international visitor arrivals to their business after the earthquakes of 2010. Orchiston, Vargo and Seville (2012) claimed that tourism data showed below pre-earthquake levels even after eighteen months of the earthquakes in this Canterbury region. Likewise, Murakami, Kawamura and Suzuki (2012) reported that the earthquake and resulting tsunami directly affected the international inbound tourism in Japan. The number of foreign visitors to Japan suffered a great decline compared to the previous year. World Travel and Tourism Council (2012) has also stated that the impact of earthquake was significant on Japanese Travel and Tourism. Japanese travelers remained at home and international visitors stayed away, international inbound arrivals fell by 62 percent in April 2011 over the same months in 2010 (Zibanai, 2014). ISDR (2001) also reported the impact of earthquake on tourism of Turkey. Tourism of Turkey was heavily impacted by the earthquake popularly known as Izmit earthquake of 17 August 1999. The earthquake affected an area of 31,250 square kilometers and one-third of Turkey's population. As estimated by the World Bank, the loss of earthquake in tourism sector was 200 million dollar and income tax related loss was around 32 million in 1999. Besides, the earthquake has created major economic and social problems in other related sectors too. Likewise, Tourism sector of Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India was severely affected by the earthquake induced Tsunami in 2004 (UNESCO, 2006). The number of tourists visiting this destination sharply reduced after the earthquake. It is claimed that the lives of the low-income communities involved in tourism have reached at ‘pause’ stage and the tourism industry will never be exactly the same again, as some of the Tsunami-induced changes were irreversible. The contribution of tourism sector in Nepali national economy is significant and this sector was badly impacted by the devastating earthquake of April 25, 2015 and subsequent aftershocks. The present TRIBHUVAN UNIVERSITY JOURNAL, VOLUME. XXX, NUMBER 2, DECEMBER 2016 185 paper aims at highlighting the impacts of earthquake on Nepalese tourism business and livelihoods associated with tourism. The first section of this writing presents general overview regarding the earthquake and associate loss/damages due to earthquake in different parts of the world and also deals with study methods and materials. The subsequent section provides general features of Nepal and highlights on spatial extent and damages of the earthquake. The third section discusses is the role of tourism in terms of trend of tourist arrival, contribution of tourism on Nepalese economy and impact of earthquake on tourism business and livelihoods based on tourism. METHODS AND MATERIALS The present study is primarily based on secondary data and experience-based approach and employs literature narratives as sources of data. Relevant data were collected from published documents through internet search. Data regarding damages due to earthquake were acquired from Post Disaster Need Assessment (PDNA) report of the government of Nepal 2015. Likewise, information/data related to tourism were acquired from tourism statistics published by Department of Tourism, Government of Nepal. Tourist arrival data for the year 2015 was collected from online news publications. The analysis is based on both quantitative and qualitative assessments. The impact of earthquake on tourism is primarily assessed by comparing the trends of tourist arrival for nine months of two consecutive years 2014 and 2015 before and after the devastating earthquake. GENERAL FEATURES OF NEPAL Located in the central Himalaya in between China and India, Nepal covers an area of 147,181 square kilometers and as of census 2011 provides home for 26.6 million people. It is one of the poorest countries of the world. Poverty is acute, the population living below poverty line in Nepal accounts for 23.8 percent (GoN, 2015). The per-capita income (PPP) was US$ 1160 in 2014 (GoN and UNDP, 2014). Agriculture is the principal economic activity providing livelihoods to three-fourths of its population and accounting for 33 percent of the gross domestic products (GDP) in 2015 (GON, 2015). However, a large proportion of people rely their livelihoods on tourism and associated activities. Tourism, a major provider of employment, contributed a lot to foreign exchange earnings and revenue. The World Travel and Tourism (2014) claimed that the direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in 2013 was NRs. 68.8 billion (3.9 percent of GDP). Its total contribution to GDP and employment was 8.2 and 7.0 percent respectively. 186 IMPACT OF EARTHQUAKE ON TOURISM... The spectacular landscape, diverse and exotic cultures of Nepal represent considerable potential for tourism. Tropical to tundra type of climate found within a short north-south physical span of about 150 kilometers is also an asset of Nepal for the tourists of different climatic zones of the world. Its unique natural landscapes along with cultural beauties offer a wide scope of tourism activities. Nepal being a mountainous country, four-fifth of its land area is covered by hills and mountains and is characterized by complex geological structure. The sharp vertical landscape renders the country highly vulnerable and disaster prone due to its fragile geology and steep topography. As cited in National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management Report of Government of Nepal (2009), Nepal ranks 11th globally most vulnerable countries to earthquake. The middle zone of Nepal is believed to be sitting on high earthquake intensity zone. The Himalaya region is recognized as a young mountain system of the world and was formed by the collision of the Indian Plate with Tibetan Plate around 55 million years ago. The movement of plate is still on and the mountain building process continues from the collision and the mountain is still on making process (Dahal, 2015). Rapid growth of population, poor land use planning, haphazard settlements, and poorly implemented building code are the common features of Nepal which aggravate the impacts of earthquake. At the same time, Nepal has very limited capacity to cope with such catastrophic disasters due to low level of technological development and poverty. EARTHQUAKE, ITS SPATIAL EXTENT AND DAMAGES On Saturday, 25 April 2015 at 11:56 local time, a massive 7.6 magnitude earthquake as recorded by Nepal’s National Seismological Centre, struck Barpak of Gorkha district, about 76 kilometer northwest of Kathmandu. The catastrophic earthquake was followed by hundreds of aftershocks greater than magnitude 4.0 (NPC, 2015). Among them, four aftershocks were greater than magnitude 6.0, including one measuring 6.8 which struck 17 days after the first big one on May 12, 2015 with the epicenter near Mount Everest. The epicenter of main shock was at the depth of approximately 15 km (9.3 mile) below the surface (NPC, 2015). This is the most powerful disaster to strike the country since the 1934 Nepal-Bihar earthquake. The earthquake caused widespread damage in large parts of central Nepal covering 31 out of 75 districts. Out of the 31 districts, 14 were heavily damaged and another 17 neighboring districts were partially affected (Figure- 1). The catastrophic earthquake resulted in huge loss of human lives, physical TRIBHUVAN UNIVERSITY JOURNAL, VOLUME.
Recommended publications
  • Lessons from the 2015 Nepal Earthquake Housing
    LESSONS FROM THE 2015 NEPAL EARTHQUAKE 4 HOUSING RECOVERY Maggie Stephenson April 2020 We build strength, stability, self-reliance through shelter. PAGE 1 Front cover photograph Volunteer Upinder Maharsin (red shirt) helps to safely remove rubble in Harisiddhi village in the Lalitpur district. Usable bricks and wood were salvaged for reconstruction later, May 2015. © Habitat for Humanity International/Ezra Millstein. Back cover photograph Sankhu senior resident in front of his house, formerly three stories, reduced by the earthquake to one-story, with temporary CGI roof. November 2019. © Maggie Stephenson. All photos in this report © Maggie Stephenson except where noted otherwise. PAGE 2 FOREWORD Working in a disaster-prone region brings challenges emerging lessons that offer insights and guidance for and opportunities. Five years after Nepal was hit by future disaster responses for governments and various devastating earthquakes in April 2015, tens of thou- stakeholders. Key questions are also raised to help sands of families are still struggling to rebuild their frame further discussions. homes. Buildings of historical and cultural significance Around the world, 1.6 billion people are living without that bore the brunt of the disaster could not be re- adequate shelter and many of them are right here in stored. Nepal. The housing crisis is getting worse due to the While challenges abound, opportunities have also global pandemic’s health and economic fallouts. Be- opened up, enabling organizations such as Habitat cause of Habitat’s vision, we must increase our efforts for Humanity to help affected families to build back to build a more secure future through housing.
    [Show full text]
  • Scarica Il Rapporto 2015
    lo stato della popolazione nel mondo 2015 lo stato lo stato della popolazione nel mondo 2015 AL RIPARO DALLA TEMPESTA: U TEMPESTA: DALLA AL RIPARO N agenda Costruire un mondo ’ in cui ogni gravidanza sia desiderata ogni parto innovativa sicuro e le potenzialità PER di ogni giovane siano realizzate DONNE E raga zz E , AL RIPARO IN UN MONDO DALLA IN continua TEMPESTA emergen Un’agenda innovativa per donne e ragazze, in un mondo Fondo delle Nazioni Unite z A per la popolazione Associazione italiana donne in continua emergenza 605 Third Avenue per lo sviluppo New York, NY 10158 USA Via dei Giubbonari 30 00186 - Roma Tel. +1-212 297-5000 tel. +39 06 687 3214/196 www.unfpa.org [email protected] ©Unfpa 2015 www.aidos.it Stampato su carta ecologica Lo Stato della popolazione nel mondo 2015 GLOSSARIO DEI TERMINI UMANITARI Ricercatrice principale Redazione Therese McGinn Caporedattore: Richard Kollodge Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman Redattrice associata e responsabile versione digitale: Katheline Ruiz AZIONE UMANITARIA DIRITTI UMANI motivi di etnia, religione, nazionalità, School of Public Health, Columbia University appartenenza a un determinato gruppo Sviluppatore digitale: Hanno Ranck L'azione umanitaria fornisce servizi Tutti i diritti umani si fondano sulla sociale o opinioni politiche, e che non Ricercatori E autori Progettazione e produzione della versione stampa e web salva vita e facilita il ritorno alla dignità e il valore propri di ogni essere può o non vuole, a causa di tale timore, Jacqueline Bhabha interattiva Prographics, Inc. normalità di persone e comunità umano. Il concetto di diritto umano Harvard T.H.
    [Show full text]
  • Rehabilitation Following Natural Disasters: Three Important Lessons from the 2015 Earthquake in Nepal
    Physiotherapy Practice and Research 37 (2016) 69–72 69 DOI 10.3233/PPR-160075 IOS Press Invited Commentary Rehabilitation following natural disasters: Three important lessons from the 2015 earthquake in Nepal Michel D. Landrya,∗, Edwin C. Salvadorb, Phillip S. Sheppardc and Sudha R. Ramand aPhysical Therapy Division, Duke University Medical Centre, Durham, NC, USA bPublic Health Administrator, World Health Organization (WHO), Dhaka, Bangladesh cInternational Organization for Migration (IOM), Chautara, Sindhupalchok, Nepal dDuke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), Duke University, Durham, NC, USA Abstract. On April 25, 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in Nepal; then on the afternoon of May 12, 2015, the small Himalayan nation experienced a second 7.3 magnitude earthquake. As of the writing of this commentary, the estimate of casualties has surpassed 8,500 making it the deadliest natural disaster in Nepal over the past 80 years. Technological advances in emergency medicine and emergency preparedness have increased the likelihood of surviving a disaster. The result, however, is that populations often survive with complex disabilities that the health infrastructure struggles to accommodate in the early post- disaster period. Nepal had a relatively poor infrastructure for people with disabilities before the earthquake, and the health system will now will be challenged to meet their needs into the future. In this commentary, we argue that there were at least three main lessons learned for the rehabilitation sector following the 2015 earthquake. First, rehabilitation can facilitate earlier discharge from hospitals thereby improving the overall institutional capacity to treat a higher number of patients; second, rehabilitation can prevent secondary musculoskeletal, integumentary and pulmonary complications; and third, rehabilitation improves function so that individuals can have better access to other essential post-disaster services.
    [Show full text]
  • Special Edition: Disaster Risk Reduction: a Road of Opportunities
    Youth Science-Policy Interface Publication Special Edition Source: Nasa Earth Observation isk DISASTEDISASTEReduction a road of opportunities isk DISASTEReduction a road of opportunities Launched at the UNISDR Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction Conference, Cancun, Mexico. May, 2017 Suggested Citation UNMGCY Youth Science Policy Interface Publication – Special Edition: Disaster Risk Reduction: A Road of Opportunities. May, 2017. Content Disclaimer 4 Executive Summary 5 Disaster reduction & disaster preparedness >Anthropocentric principles for effective early warning systems 8 >Communicating risk information and early warnings: bridging the gap between science and practice 13 >Community preparedness on undetonated explosive remnants of war Kenya 24 >Developing and implementing effective (multi-hazard) early warning systems: the vital role of young professionals 32 >Disaster risk during flood situations in the dry zone of Sri Lanka 37 >Redefining disaster (excerpts from a thesis at Kanagawa University in Japan) 42 >Reducing disaster risks by better prediction of the impacts of El Niño and La Niña 48 > Role of Nepali nurses in disaster risk reduction: a need for capacity building 52 > Staying safe: disaster risk reduction 56 Science, technology & innovation >Digital government for better disaster risk governance? added value and challenges 57 >Two-dimensional Mudflood Simulation in Arequipa, Peru 64 >Synthetic biology and its effects on environment and human health 68 Disaster resilience >Incremental Shelters for Refugees and Host
    [Show full text]
  • FY 2015 Report to Congress
    PROPOSED REFUGEE ADMISSIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2015 REPORT TO THE CONGRESS SUBMITTED ON BEHALF OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE COMMITTEES ON THE JUDICIARY UNITED STATES SENATE AND UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF SECTIONS 207(d)(1) and (e) OF THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES INTRODUCTION This Proposed Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2015: Report to the Congress is submitted in compliance with Sections 207(d)(1) and (e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The Act requires that before the start of the fiscal year and, to the extent possible, at least two weeks prior to consultations on refugee admissions, members of the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and the House of Representatives be provided with the following information: (1) A description of the nature of the refugee situation; (2) A description of the number and allocation of the refugees to be admitted and an analysis of conditions within the countries from which they came; (3) A description of the plans for their movement and resettlement and the estimated cost of their movement and resettlement; (4) An analysis of the anticipated social, economic, and demographic impact of their admission to the United States; 1 (5) A description of the extent to which other countries will admit and assist in the resettlement of such refugees; (6) An analysis of the impact of the participation of the United States in the resettlement of such refugees on the foreign policy interests of the United States; and (7) Such additional information as may be appropriate or requested by such members.
    [Show full text]
  • Financial Management of Earthquake Risk
    Financial Management of Earthquake Risk Please cite this publication as: OECD (2018), Financial Management of Earthquake Risk, www.oecd.org/finance/Financial-Management-of-Earthquake-Risk.htm. This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the OECD or of the governments of its member countries or those of the European Union. This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. © OECD 2018 FOREWORD │ 5 Foreword Disasters present a broad range of human, social, financial, economic and environmental impacts, with potentially long-lasting, multi-generational effects. The financial management of these impacts is a key challenge for individuals, businesses and governments in developed and developing countries. The Financial Management of Earthquake Risk applies the lessons from the OECD’s analysis of disaster risk financing practices and the application of its guidance to the specific case of earthquakes. The report provides an overview of the approaches that economies facing various levels of earthquake risk and economic development have taken to managing the financial impacts of earthquakes. The OECD supports the development of strategies and the implementation of effective approaches for the financial management of natural and man-made disaster risks under the guidance of the OECD High-Level Advisory Board on Financial Management of Catastrophic Risks and the OECD Insurance and Private Pensions Committee.
    [Show full text]
  • Redalyc.ANALYZING SEISMIC ACTIVITIES DURING 1900 TO
    Journal of Urban and Environmental Engineering E-ISSN: 1982-3932 [email protected] Universidade Federal da Paraíba Brasil Kumar, Amit; Chandra Pandey, Arvind ANALYZING SEISMIC ACTIVITIES DURING 1900 TO 2015 TO ASSESS URBAN RISK IN NEPAL HIMALAYAS USING GEOINFORMATICS Journal of Urban and Environmental Engineering, vol. 11, núm. 2, julio-diciembre, 2017, pp. 133-141 Universidade Federal da Paraíba Paraíba, Brasil Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=283255970001 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Kumar and Pandey 133 Journal of Urban and Environmental Journal of Urban and E Engineering, v.11, n.2, p.133-141 Environmental Engineering ISSN 1982-3932 J www.journal-uee.org E doi: 10.4090/juee.2017.v11n2.133141 U ANALYZING SEISMIC ACTIVITIES DURING 1900 TO 2015 TO ASSESS URBAN RISK IN NEPAL HIMALAYAS USING GEOINFORMATICS Amit Kumar and Arvind Chandra Pandey Centre for Land Resource Management, Central University of Jharkhand, Brambe, Ranchi-835205, INDIA Received 27 August 2016; received in revised form 02 May 2017; accepted 05 July 2017 Abstract: A high magnitude (Mw = 7.8) earthquake caused a geological disaster recently on April-May 2015 in Nepal Himalayas and resulted in severe devastation in Nepal as well as neighboring states in India. Looking into its recurrent occurrence with varied intensity, in the present study, the earthquake pattern in Nepal Himalayas was analyzed during the period 1900 to 2015 using United States Geological Survey (USGS) data sources in GIS environment.
    [Show full text]
  • Rupture Process of the Mw=7.9 2015 Gorkha Earthquake (Nepal)
    Rupture process of the Mw=7.9 2015 Gorkha earthquake (Nepal): insights into Himalayan megathrust segmentation Raphaël Grandin, Martin Vallée, Claudio Satriano, Robin Lacassin, Yann Klinger, Martine Simoes, Laurent Bollinger To cite this version: Raphaël Grandin, Martin Vallée, Claudio Satriano, Robin Lacassin, Yann Klinger, et al.. Rupture process of the Mw=7.9 2015 Gorkha earthquake (Nepal): insights into Himalayan megathrust seg- mentation. Geophysical Research Letters, American Geophysical Union, 2015, 42 (20), pp.8373-8382. 10.1002/2015GL066044. hal-01214961v2 HAL Id: hal-01214961 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01214961v2 Submitted on 24 Oct 2017 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Copyright PUBLICATIONS Geophysical Research Letters RESEARCH LETTER Rupture process of the Mw =7.9 2015 Gorkha 10.1002/2015GL066044 earthquake (Nepal): Insights into Himalayan Key Points: megathrust segmentation • Uniform rupture velocity during peak moment release explains modest Raphaël Grandin1, Martin Vallée1, Claudio Satriano1, Robin Lacassin1,
    [Show full text]
  • Complete Report
    NUMBERS, FACTS AND TRENDS SHAPING THE WORLD FOR RELEASE APRIL 11, 2017 FOR MEDIA OR OTHER INQUIRIES: Alan Cooperman, Director of Religion Research Katayoun Kishi, Research Associate Anna Schiller, Communications Manager 202.419.4372 www.pewresearch.org RECOMMENDED CITATION: Pew Research Center, April 11, 2017, “Global Restrictions on Religion Rise Modestly in 2015, Reversing Downward Trend” 1 PEW RESEARCH CENTER About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does not take policy positions. The Center conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. It studies U.S. politics and policy; journalism and media; internet, science and technology; religion and public life; Hispanic trends; global attitudes and trends; and U.S. social and demographic trends. All of the Center’s reports are available at www.pewresearch.org. Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. This report was produced by Pew Research Center as part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project, which analyzes religious change and its impact on societies around the world. Funding for the Global Religious Futures project comes from The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John Templeton Foundation. © Pew Research Center 2018 www.pewresearch.org 2 PEW RESEARCH CENTER Acknowledgments This report was produced by Pew Research Center as part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project, which analyzes religious change and its impact on societies around the world. Funding for the Global Religious Futures project comes from The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John Templeton Foundation.
    [Show full text]
  • INCB Annual Report for 2016
    INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARD REPORT REPORT 2016 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARD CONTROL NARCOTICS INTERNATIONAL Report 2016 EMBARGO Observe release date: Not to be published or broadcast before Thursday, 2 March 2017, at 1100 hours (CET) UNITED NATIONS CAUTION Reports published by the International Narcotics Control Board in 2016 TheReport of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2016 (E/INCB/2016/1) is supple- mented by the following reports: Narcotic Drugs: Estimated World Requirements for 2017—Statistics for 2015 (E/INCB/2016/2) Psychotropic Substances: Statistics for 2015—Assessments of Annual Medical and Scientific Requirements for Substances in Schedules II, III and IV of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 (E/INCB/2016/3) Precursors and Chemicals Frequently Used in the Illicit Manufacture of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances: Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2016 on the Implementation of Article 12 of the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 (E/INCB/2016/4) The updated lists of substances under international control, comprising narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and substances frequently used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, are contained in the latest editions of the annexes to the statistical forms (“Yellow List”, “Green List” and “Red List”), which are also issued by the Board. Contacting the International Narcotics Control Board The secretariat of the Board may be reached at the following address: Vienna International Centre Room E-1339 P.O. Box 500 1400 Vienna Austria In addition, the following may be used to contact the secretariat: Telephone: (+43-1) 26060 Fax: (+43-1) 26060-5867 or 26060-5868 E-mail: [email protected] The text of the present report is also available on the website of the Board (www.incb.org).
    [Show full text]
  • Damage to Cultural Heritage Structures and Buildings Due to the 2015 Nepal Gorkha Earthquake
    Journal of Earthquake Engineering ISSN: 1363-2469 (Print) 1559-808X (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ueqe20 Damage to Cultural Heritage Structures and Buildings Due to the 2015 Nepal Gorkha Earthquake Satish Bhagat, H. A. D. Samith Buddika, Rohit Kumar Adhikari, Anuja Shrestha, Sanjeema Bajracharya, Rejina Joshi, Jenisha Singh, Rajali Maharjan & Anil C. Wijeyewickrema To cite this article: Satish Bhagat, H. A. D. Samith Buddika, Rohit Kumar Adhikari, Anuja Shrestha, Sanjeema Bajracharya, Rejina Joshi, Jenisha Singh, Rajali Maharjan & Anil C. Wijeyewickrema (2018) Damage to Cultural Heritage Structures and Buildings Due to the 2015 Nepal Gorkha Earthquake, Journal of Earthquake Engineering, 22:10, 1861-1880, DOI: 10.1080/13632469.2017.1309608 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/13632469.2017.1309608 Published online: 23 Jun 2017. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 265 View Crossmark data Citing articles: 2 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ueqe20 JOURNAL OF EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING 2018, VOL. 22, NO. 10, 1861–1880 https://doi.org/10.1080/13632469.2017.1309608 Damage to Cultural Heritage Structures and Buildings Due to the 2015 Nepal Gorkha Earthquake Satish Bhagata, H. A. D. Samith Buddikaa, Rohit Kumar Adhikaria, Anuja Shresthaa, Sanjeema Bajracharyaa, Rejina Joshia, Jenisha Singha, Rajali Maharjanb, and Anil C. Wijeyewickremaa aDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan; bDepartment of International Development Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Cultural heritage structures are an integral facet of the irreplaceable Received 10 February 2017 cultural heritage of a nation and have been constructed several hun- Accepted 27 February 2017 fi dreds and even thousands of years ago.
    [Show full text]
  • 160 Million Face
    Risk Identification at GFDRR The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery enables solutions to improve the availability of relevant natural disaster risk information. Why Risk Identification Matters Recognizing, assessing, and understanding risk are the Over first steps toward reducing the effects of natural hazards and disasters. Many risk assessments are too technical or too broad to answer the questions that decision makers 160 million face. By developing information for a purpose, sharing it people in 60 countries gained widely, and communicating it well, policymakers and the improved access to risk information public can better understand their disaster risks, prepare through GFDRR-supported national for them, and reduce their effects through planning and and regional geospatial data sharing investment. platforms since 2010. What We Do GFDRR supports the development of risk identification meet specific needs and the goals of stakeholders. tools and methodologies to help government officials, OpenDRI has created a suite of complementary professionals, and communities collaborate on, analyze, programs, including open data platforms, community communicate, and use risk information effectively. mapping and crowdsourcing, and risk visualization and communication. It has also released a number of Facilitating Risk Assessments publications to enable the scalability of these programs. GFDRR is sought after for expertise and advice on disaster risk assessments, risk identification, and related tools. Advancing the Understanding of Risk Its teams have facilitated developing risk information in GFDRR recognized the need for a community of risk more than 60 countries. identification professionals to share knowledge, promote Notably, GFDRR secured access to risk analytics for the best practices, and form nontraditional partnerships.
    [Show full text]